Appliance for sickrooms and other purposes



June 19, 1951 T. M RAE APPLIANCE FOR SICKROOMS AND OTHER PURPOSES FiledSept. 20, 1949 a E II Iii I. 1. l. I. (I I: 1

IN V EN TOR.

Thompson M Rae BY ATTORNEYS Patented June 19, 1951 JAPPLIANGE FORSICKRO'OMS'ANDOTHER PURPOSES Thompson MRaaEast range,:-'N.= J.;assignor: of -.-thirty percent to GaylordrRn-Hawkins East Orange, N. J.

Application September 20, 1949fSerial N0. 116,650

3 Claims.

My invention relates to appliances for sickrooms and other purposes andparticularly to devices for the reception and disposal of dressings,tissues and other articles used in the bedside care of patients.

It is customary in the treatment of bed patients to attach paper bags(for unused dressings or tissues or for the disposal of such articlesafter use) by safety pins or clips to bedclothes ormattresses. Suchmeans of attachment are unsatisfactory at best and frequently result intearing or soiling the bedding.

My improved device comprises a support adapted to be attached at theside of a bed or other structure, for instance a base portion beinginserted in a horizontal position between the spring and the mattress ofa bed with an upwardly extending vertical portion for supporting areceptacle or receptacles for dressings, tissues or other articlesbefore or after use. The horizontal portion and the vertical portion areprefcrably flat and are hinged together and capable of being folded fiatone upon the other when not in use for convenience in shipping andstorage. The two portions may be hinged or attached at theirintersection by tape, fabric or other flexible material and by tape orlike material at their side edges near their intersection to preventtheir being opened out to more than a ninety-degree angle. Thus whenapplied to a bed or other supporting structure by inserting thehorizontal portion under the mattress or other object the tape at theirside edges will prevent the attached portion from outward movementbeyond the vertical while on the inner side the vertical side of themattress or other object will hold the attached portion in a verticalposition.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective of my improveddevice and Fig. 2 is an elevation partly in section showing itsapplication to the side of a bed.

Referring to the drawings, the horizontal portion 2 and the verticalportion 3 of my improved support are preferably made of cardboard orother suitable relatively stiff and inexpensive material. The horizontalportion 2 is shown in Fig. 2 in applied position between a mattress Aand a spring B, a box spring being shown. The outer end of thehorizontal portion 2 is attached to the vertical portion 3 by means offlexible material 4 such as mastic tape, or the like, which acts as ahinge between the two portions. To prevent the vertical portion 3 fromrotating outwardly beyond vertical position it is attached preferably atits side edges to the adjacent side edges of the horizontal portion 2 byflexible strips or tape 5. Thus when applied as described in bedsideposition the strips 5 and the mattress A hold the portion 3 in verticalposition.

The upper or outer end 6 of the portion 3 may be provided with means forsupporting a receptacle l for unused dressings l4 or tissues, or otherarticles, Which as here shown consists in a pocket on the inner face ofthe portion 3 open at the top.

The portion 3 is also provided on its outer face with means forsupporting on such face a receptacle 8, such as a paper bag, for useddressings, tissues or the like. Such means preferably consist in aprojection 9 and slot 10 con nection as shown, by which the receptacle 8for the used instrumentalities II or other articles may be removablysecured to the supporting vertical member 3, thus enabling thereceptacle 8 to be readily removed, replaced or emptied and returned. Ifdesired, an extension I! on the receptacle 8 provided with a slot 10 maybe inserted through an opening 13 in the portion 3 and the slot ID insuch extension hooked over the projection 9 of the portion 3.

As my improved device may be made of cardboard or other cheap,relatively stiff material it can readily be replaced at low cost ifsoiled or otherwise damaged, and the receptacles for unused or usedmaterials may likewise be expendable and readily replaced by new andsterile receptacles.

The terms and expressions which I have emr ployed are used as terms ofdescription and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the useof such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of thefeatures shown and described, or portions thereof,'but recognize thatvarious modifications are possible within the scope of the inventionclaimed.

I claim:

1. A structure comprising two relatively stiff members, one of which isflat, flexibly connected together, the flat member comprising thesupport for the other member and insertable between horizontalsupporting members, flexible means for limiting the movement of thefirst two mentioned members relative to each other, the other memberbeing adapted to support a removable receptacle, the structure beingadapted to be folded flat when not in use for convenience in shippingand storage.

2. A sickroom appliance comprising a structure having two relativelystiff members, one

of which is flat and insertable between a mattress and its support, ahinge between adjacent ends of said members, and flexible materialattached to said members adjacent the hinge comprising means forlimiting the movement of the two members relative to each other, theother member being adapted to be held in' vertical position by themattress and the limiting means to support a removable receptacle forholding articles used in the bedroom care of patients.

3. A sickroom appliance comprising a structure having two relativelystiff members, one of which is fiat and insertable between a mattressand its support, a hinge between adjacent ends of said members, andflexible material attached is 2,357,056

to said members adjacent the hinge comprising means for limiting themovement of the two members relative to each other, the other memberbeing adapted to be held in vertical position by the mattress and thelimiting means, and means for attaching a removable receptacle to 5 theother member.

THONIPSON MCRAE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 10 fileof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 898,755 Little Sept. 15, 1908Nelson Aug. 29, 1944 2,454,857 Bish Nov. 30, 1948 2,462,973 Kelrick Mar.1, 1949

